Winter Commuting

[dinbuffalo]

Hi Everyone,
I live in Buffalo, NY and am trying winter commuting for the first time (I've ridden in winter before, but only when the roads were free of snow). Even with deflating my mtb tires to 20 lbs, I'm fishtailing and nearly falling every two seconds. I need to have a safer ride - any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! More details : I weigh 110 lbs, the bike has disc brakes, I'm keeping the gearing low.

[tulip]

Studded tires are a must in places like Buffalo. You can either get a beater winter bike and put studs on it, or just put studs on your current bike and take them off come spring.

[lph]

YES! You need studded tires. If you're fishtailing, you're out of control and could land under a car or in a ditch very fast. Don't ride without.

Studs make the going a bit heavier, and you need to keep your bike a little more upright, minimal leaning over in corners. But once you have the hang of it, you can ride up hills so icy people can't walk up them. Studded tires rock. And they last a long time if you just break them in carefully (no hard braking the first 50 km or so). And you don't have to deflate your tires to very low pressures either.

You also need a good bright light in front and a red blinky in back. I'm a big fan of the Magicshine lights, great value for money.

[dinbuffalo]

Looks like I have confirmation - I think I already knew that I would have to get the studded tires, but I was trying to avoid buying them before the holidays. I have friends who are commuting on cyclocross bikes with regular tires and saying it's fine, but then I find out that these are people who are not riding through the city (where the very slippery salt crap is). I wish Buffalo would not use salt and just let the snow pack with sand, but that's not going to happen, so out comes the credit card. I'm getting the Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded tires, by the way, for anyone who's interested. I use front and rear lights all year round, rear light on always, even during the day. Thank you for the replies!

[tulip]

With all that salt, be sure to clean your bike regularly. Even if it's not steel, salt and sand corrode metal.

[dinbuffalo]

It's funny you mention that - I just read recently where someone puts his bike in the shower after riding (can't wash it off outside or it will freeze). We have a shower we don't use and I tried it - worked great!